Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The Commission for the Search for Missing Persons in Quintana Roo is increasing search efforts due to the numbers. Over the weekend, the specialized group searched wild areas in José María Morelos, Bacalar, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Othón P. Blanco for missing persons.
According to María López Urbina who heads the Commission, this year, 740 people have been reported missing across Quintana Roo. She said that due to an increase in the number of missing reports, search efforts have also increased.
In an interview, she explained that given 740 reported missing persons in 2025, the agency increased search operations, especially on weekends. The searches are conducted in conjunction with members of the missing persons collective from the state’s 11 municipalities.
The operation, she said, includes ground-penetrating radars, canines, surveillance cameras and drones to expedite investigations in hard-to-reach areas.
“The task of working hand-in-hand with the collectives is almost daily. On weekends, we are carrying out joint search and outreach operations. Before, it was more common to do so from Tulum to Cancun, but in the last two or three months we have been conducting operations in José María Morelos, Bacalar and Othón P. Blanco,” she explained.
López Urbina said the Commission’s objective is to increase searches for missing persons classified as long-term missing persons through forensic genetic samples. For current cases, searches are started immediately, not 72 hours after the report is filed, but rather from the moment the investigation file is assigned to the agency.
She noted that people reported missing in the state are not due to recruitment for fake jobs organized by criminal groups, but that the main factor has been drug-related activity.
